


Whatever Storm Passes Me By

by NataliaWhite92



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff and Crack, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 17:38:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18696181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NataliaWhite92/pseuds/NataliaWhite92
Summary: Kara and Lena are getting ready to move into their house together when Lena finds a memory box from her childhood.





	Whatever Storm Passes Me By

No Kara, she said. We’ll be fine, she said. We shouldn’t just rely on your superspeed while we are packing and moving. We should actually look through all of our crap and see what we need and what can be tossed/donated/burned (she will be rid of that ghastly joke of a painting Alex got her two years ago if it’s the last thing she does!). She was going to find a way to rip open the space-time continuum just so she could go back in time and kick her two weeks younger ass. Because now she was stuck actually sorting through things they had accumulated in the three years of living in this apartment together. She couldn’t take back her previous idea without admitting she had been defeated by couch cushions and kitchen sets. And the smirk, no she would not be responsible for the self satisfied smirk that her girlfriend would inevitably be sporting as she whisked around packing and hauling their stuff in a fraction of the time it was taking them now. She would not do it. She was a Luthor damn it, well at least for a little bit longer. 

She thought it would be easier if they split the task by room, and if she happened to take the living room to Kara getting the bedroom well she never said she was above a little persuasion. And just because her girlfriend happened to be the kind to be persuaded by soft kisses and whispered promises of later rewards, well again, she was a Luthor. 

“Love of my life, shine in my soul, flower to my dead of winter?” Kara calls jovially from their shared bedroom in the back of the apartment. Lena really wishes she didn’t burst out laughing at the most recent in a long list of things Kara tries calling her when she was about to say something Lena didn’t want to hear. But really could anyone blame her? Shine in my soul. She rolls her eyes and tosses the ornamental pillow she had been examining back onto the couch, unable to remember if it held any importance to the story of their life together (being a particularly eye catching shade of green that went with exactly nothing else in the apartment she figured it did) and got to her feet. 

Her back cracks sharply as she straightens her spine and indulges in a languorous stretch. Was it advancing years causing her body to rebel in such a manner when it seemed like just yesteryear she could be on her knees on a hardwood floor for hours at a time. Her mind immediately screeches to a halt as she plays back the most recent thought and thanks whatever deity is hovering near that she didn’t utter that in front of Kara. Or worse Alex. 

“Ice cube on a hot day? Are you okay? I heard your heart start to race? What’s going on?” Lena rolls her eyes and starts toward the bedroom before Kara can come check on her. Thus halting her progress. Lena would be willing to give away not a small portion of her sizable fortune to not have to deal with the far too many articles of clothes that are in her closet. She doesn’t know if she can justify to herself why she has all of it, much less to anyone else. So much that she took over the double closet before they had even added Kara’s clothes. And the specialty built dresser. And the extension closet that she had designed to be a foolproof way to hold all her clothes no matter what. And the extra room that was originally a second office but now held her shoe collection and accessories. When Kara agreed (got suckered into) dealing with the bedroom(s) Lena had fully supported any criteria Kara was planning to use to choose which things stayed and which things went. She knows she should ask but honestly she didn’t know if she would want to hear the answer. 

She follows the continued calls into the oh so cleverly nicknamed “shoe room” by Ruby, who was only 9 at the time so it turned into a cute anecdote, and laughed at Kara laying on the floor surrounded by mountains of shoe boxes. Some tipped over, some stacked by someone with only a rudimentary idea of Jenga, some built into a pyramid, some organized by color, some by size. She wanted to claim she didn’t know she had this many shoes but really what was the point of lying when she was sharing a life with an alien polygraph. 

“Yes Darling,” Lena directs toward the facedown blonde who is waving an off-white stiletto in what Lena could only assume was an attempt at being a flag of surrender. A very expensive last years McQueen pseudo flag of surrender. 

“Do you really like actually need this many pairs of shoes? Like really need Lena. Need as in I can’t live without them if they disappeared it would be like losing a limb need?” The whole bumbling diatribe was muffled as Kara still hadn’t raised her head from the carpeted floor of the room but Lena was able to get the gist. 

“Do you actually need 18 throw pillows of various hues, sizes, and textures?” She fires back with no malice, knowing attacking the pillows will quickly cause her girlfriend to rise to the bait, and off the floor. True to her suspicion Kara flies up almost too exuberantly and is a hair from hitting the ceiling. 

“Lena you can’t compare the two! They all have their own story and time of necessity! What if you want to sit and watch a boring documentary with Alex about guns and can’t get too comfortable or you will fall asleep? That’s the perfect time for the medium sized purple one to lean back on because of that time when I spilt the pop on it and thought if I cleaned it the next day it would be fine and it wasn’t so now there is a rough uncomfortable patch that’s perfect for keeping you awake? What if you want to hold something so soft that it almost is like the hand of your lover who is still at the office because of some last minute emergency and you miss her? That’s when I grab the tiny periwinkle one that got soaked in your perfume that one time. All the fuzz is rubbed off but that’s what makes it just right…” 

Lena raises her eyebrow at her girlfriend’s genuine look of distress and tries her hardest not to falter. How is it that she can be losing an argument to a woman who, if given the chance, will tell you the absurdly specific time in your life when you might want this one pillow which means they can’t possibly think of getting rid of it? That face though, the complete belief in what she was saying, that pout that hadn’t made an appearance but was definitely starting to wobble onto her lips, the shine in her eyes as she waited for Lena to respond. She just couldn’t. She let her laugh burst forth until she was clutching the stitch in her side and sliding to the floor where Kara floated down to meet her.

Lena shoved a couple boxes (8) out of the way so Kara could land and lays her head on the blonde’s shoulder, wiping the errant tears from her eyes. 

“I have far more articles of clothing than pairs of shoes Kara. How did you get done in the other bedroom so fast?” Her eyes are closed as she feels Kara wrap an arm around the base of her back, gripping her waist, and piano fingers tapping rhythms on her side. Not hard enough to tickle her but she shivers as goose pimples erupt along her skin. 

“That was easy, I just looked at an outfit and thought about what level of functioning I could reach while you were in it and if it was anything above a four I tossed it in the donate pile.” 

“Kara!”

“But I don’t have a foot fetish Lena so it’s not the same for the shoes. How am I supposed to know if this pair is going to make my day or ruin my night? Ya know?”

“KARA!”

“Maybe if you modeled them all. Just the shoes though, so I could really see just how important each pair is. I think that would…” Lena tackles her giggling girlfriend and covers her mouth with her hands. Kara lets herself be pushed to the ground, eyes dancing up as Lena tries to keep her down. 

“Gross Kara!” Lena squeals as she pulls her hand away from Kara’s tongue still peaking out of her mouth. 

“You can’t possibly be telling me my saliva is disgusting. After all these years of swapping spit and you’re upset I licked your hand?”

Lena wiggles around on top of Kara until she accidently knocks her knee into the apex of her thighs, simultaneously hearing the gasp of laughter cut off and bruising her leg in the process. Kara’s eyes have dilated and her touches become much gentler and sensual instead of playful. Lena runs her fingers up Kara’s sides, pushing below the t-shirt she had thrown on after working out in just a sports bra and compression shorts and biting her lip. Kara lurches up, forehead scrunching up in confusion when Lena pulls back with a smirk. She grinds her leg against Kara’s center with more intention and is rewarded with a loud moan from the frustrated woman beneath her. She digs her nails a little harder into Kara’s side as the blonde arches her back and tries to pull Lena down for a kiss. 

“Lena…” 

“Yes Darling?” 

She’s met with another groan, equal measures frustration and need as she finally leans down and kisses her girlfriend. It’s frenzied, frantic, and passionate. Kara sucks Lena’s tongue into her mouth, massaging it with her own as Lena starts grinding her body down harder. When Kara tugs her shirt out of the back of her pants Lena breaks their connected mouths long enough to let it be pulled over her head and tossed aside. She pushes Kara’s shirt up high enough to peak at Kara’s neon sports bra. She kisses up her sternum, running her tongue across hard abs flexing at the attention. 

“Please,” Kara gasps, hands knotted at her sides as not to break anything. They usually have their intimate moments in their bedroom where the red sun simulator is already set up but on times like now Kara has to be extra careful. 

Lena bites just below the swell of Kara’s breasts and sits up, reaching behind her back to unclasp her own bra. Kara’s pupils take over her eyes completely as Lena’s plentiful breasts are released. She watches Kara trace the minute swinging and strain against the hand holding her down from finding her target. 

“Now that I’ve got your full attention, let’s talk about the shoes.” 

The sound that comes from Kara’s throat is almost inhuman. She focuses a foot north of her current obsession and Lena watches her try to bring herself to a place of coherency. 

“Lena!” 

Lena leans over, reaching to hold Kara’s arms above her head, squeezing them gently and watching until Kara nods her consent to not move them. She sees her lock her hands on her wrists, eyes never leaving Lena’s. 

“Please,” she whispers but as she sees the raven haired beauty above her raise her eyebrow she accepts the slow torture of battling a Luthor. 

Lena gets her way, holding Kara under her spell and threatening to get up anytime Kara tries to counter her idea of necessary numbers when it came to custom footwear. She held her at the edge until Kara finally agreed to her terms and then guided her through one of the more intense orgasms she had the pleasure of witnessing. 

Kara comes down and pulls Lena close to her, Lena loves how cuddly the Kryptonian always gets after climax. She kisses her gently on the forehead and curls into Kara as she wraps her tight in her arms to keep Lena warm in her current half clothed state. She wouldn’t regain the ability to talk for another couple minutes and Lena revels in the quiet after moments. She knows that Kara will all too willingly reciprocate but she just wants to be connected, the feeling of their skin against each other enough for her right now. 

“That was dirty Lena Luthor.” 

“Compared to past experiences I would consider that rather vanilla love.” 

Kara rolls her eyes and kisses her, soft and without the energy that Lena knew was already returning to her girlfriend’s body. 

“You know what I mean. You all but held me hostage!” 

“I didn’t hear you complaining. In fact what I remember was a lot of agreeing.” Lena is cut off again by kisses, not that she’s opposed. 

“You won this round. But just you wait.” 

“I have you, I always win.” She knows it’s cheesy but it’s hard not to be when she’s so happy. 

Though the idea holds much appeal they can’t continue to lie wrapped in each other all day. Between their schedules they are lucky to have found a full day that worked for both of them to pack up their things and get them ready to be moved to their new house. Kara protests audibly when Lena clips her bra and looks around for her shirt. She ignores the motion of the tiny wave Kara gives her breasts. She swears one of these days her eyes are going to get stuck with all the times she rolls them. 

Kara sits up as well, watching Lena spin in a slow circle taking in all the shoes she has collected over the years. It really was a little excessive, a lot excessive actually, but she had so few vices she allowed herself. She liked her liquors single malt and aged, her chocolates specially ordered from France, her books well read and widely ranging in price and availability, her shoes surrounding her, and most importantly her girlfriend ridiculously spoiled. She had more money than she could possibly spend in ten lifetimes and while she ended up donating more than triple what she spent each month she did enjoy her indulgences. 

Kara though. Kara kept her humble. Lena had grown up surrounded by wealth and privilege and watched it consume her brother. They had never lacked for anything, when it came to things that could be bought, or coerced, or taken. The sense of entitlement that came with having your every whim fulfilled had been fed to her brother on a sterling silver spoon until he was so far gone he was no longer living in reality. Instead he had become the central figure in a narrative adjacent to the one the rest of the world lived in but with more shades of charcoal than grey. Lex had grown into the egomaniacal ruler of his world but was cast down when he tried to assume the title in the one everyone else inhibited. 

Lena would never claim to not have been influenced by how she was raised; she was who she was for better and worse because of being adopted by the Luthors. When she had lost her whole world they had tucked her into theirs. She didn’t notice the manacles that she had been fitted with upon stepping over the threshold until she needed to break free of them. 

It is truth that unlearning things is a exponentially harder than learning them. Especially when the lessons were taught as a survival class where failure was not an option. She spent many years trying to escape the vitriol that had seeped into her from all sides, to leave behind automatic responses and assumptions, to be a whole person and embrace what it meant to be such instead of a clone designed by her purchasers. And wasn’t it truly ironic that it took someone who wasn’t human to teach her how to be one? 

Kara was the reason she learned to love herself. Kara taught her about safety and kindness freely given. Kara showed her how friendship could be mutual instead of something to be used until it was no longer helpful. Kara saved her in a million small ways. It was inevitable that she would fall in love with Kara Danvers; it was impossible that Kara would love her back. But being with Kara was embracing the impossible, turning away from her carefully crafted cynicism and letting light in. And Kara was light, though Lena was still learning that she herself was not darkness. She had changed so much in the years since she had known Kara. They had changed together. 

Lena was pulled from her thoughts by the absence of noise in the room. She broke her stare away from the corner of the wall that had been her point of focus and looked at her no longer babbling girlfriend. 

“I’m so sorry Darling, I got lost in my head. What did you ask me?” 

Kara smiled her smile. The one that held the teasing glint in her eyes that told Lena she might have missed the question multiple times. Walking around in her brain Kara called it. As if Lena was able to embody a physical form in her mind and take a stroll. Kara had a tendency to personify things, one of the many traits Lena found endearing. Flying pizzas, dancing fruit, warbling teapots. Kara saw the world with a childlike joy that Lena used to envy. But Kara never lorded it over her for thinking differently. Like everything else, she shared her unique way of looking at the world until Lena too was able to catch glimpses. 

“This box isn’t shoes, which I mean miracle of miracles but it also means that there are a probably a pair of track shoes that wandered off and now I’ll have to find them because I know how you are about collections. Though considering the last time I tried to get you to go train with me you claimed to be deathly allergic to any kind of exercise that wasn’t yoga and really Lena just because you have a PhD doesn’t mean I would have not figured out your doctors note wasn’t legit. I’m an investigative reporter for Rao’s sake. I don’t remember ever seeing you in tennis shoes. But see again lack of foot fetish. Anyways it doesn’t feel empty.” Kara holds out the box in question and upon glancing at it Lena knows exactly which box it is. It’s one she hasn’t opened in many years but has moved from residence to residence with her unexplored and forgotten for the most part. 

Lena reaches for the box almost absently, taking in Kara’s puzzled look at her lack of words. When she brings it to her body it’s like a weight landing on her shoulders that she couldn’t remember losing but wishes would leave again. 

“Lena…” 

“It’s a time capsule. I made it when I was a child.”

“How come you didn’t bury it?” 

“I never got around to it.” 

Kara sits down next to her, lending her strength in the touch of their shoulders which Lena gratefully leans in to. She doesn’t open the box, neither does Kara ask her what’s in it. A small part of her wants to reexamine the items her younger self felt like preserving, the dissonance that kept her from remembering exactly what is in the box unnerving to her usually perfect recall.

“Do you want to keep it still?” 

“I don’t know. I shouldn’t.” 

“Should doesn’t mean you can’t Lena. Whatever you decide.” Kara rises after kissing her on the forehead and goes back to work, allowing Lena her space but still staying close. Kara has always known her so well, it’s never something she took into account when thinking of being with someone. She always had an idea of qualities she would look for; a laundry list of non specific professional items that one would more likely find on a job application. Someone who fit into her life neatly and didn’t complicate it. Kara was the antithesis of that. She was messy, a disaster of a puppy who needed things like attention and pats and to be told she was a good girl. She was loud and irrational and never remembered to put the lid back on the toothpaste. She forgot to wash out her mug when she placed it in the sink. She picked up strays and brought them back to their apartment, both the human and animal variety. She lost track of time and couldn’t keep a secret to save her life. She was nothing that Lena thought she would want in a partner, but everything she couldn’t live without. She was real, and perfect, and hers.

They finish up packing, Lena relenting after the seventh hour and letting Kara do the rest with powers. She is rewarded with a quick kiss on the cheek and a smug grin. The glass of wine that appears on the floor (coffee table having been moved downstairs before she could even notice) and being tossed on the couch cements her resolve to watching Kara’s blur finish up the job. 

In all of five minutes she’s done, before Lena even rights herself enough to grab the wine, and she joins Lena on the couch. Cushions bagged up and all transported into the moving truck much to her chagrin. 

“Kara you giant oaf get off of me!” Lena calls when her superpowered girlfriend plops down, managing her weight enough not to crush Lena completely into the cushions. 

“But you’re my absolute favorite pillow!” The blonde teases. “The perfect amount of squish to be comfy!” 

She attempts to elbow her way out from under Kara only to have her flip around and lay on her stomach, pulling Lena’s body until she is completely laid out. 

Kara rubs her head on Lena’s breasts and lets out a sigh of pleasure. 

“Are you quite done?” Her stern tone would be much more effective if she wasn’t laughing along with Kara but some things couldn’t be helped. She wraps her arms round the finally still woman on top of her and starts tracing patterns across her back. Kara almost starts purring and Lena allows the smile to take over her face. These are the moments she loves he most. The soft moments of domesticity between them. The teasing, the kisses, the comfort. 

“Don’t get too comfortable Darling, we have a date with your sister and Sam in half an hour.” 

“Good thing we finished so timely huh?” 

Lena pokes her hard in the side, causing Kara to wiggle and avoid her as much as possible while not giving up her perch. 

“It’s important to get rid of things Kara. We don’t need all of this stuff.” 

“We have a whole house to fill!” 

Lena smiles at her petulant tone but grips her tighter. Their own house. A home to create together. Though home is not a physical place, she can’t help her excitement at the idea of setting up their house together. Without powers. 

“That we do my love.” 

Kara nuzzles into her neck, mumbling five more minutes, an allowance that Lena willingly grants for a few more moments like this.  
___________________________________________  
When Alex opens the door an hour later she welcomes them in with hugs before calling out to Sam. 

“Pay up Arias. They’re only half an hour late which means Lena caved!” 

Sam appears in the hallway, smiling in her donned apron proclaiming “a happy home is one where I’m in charge.” 

“You pushover, it was the shoes wasn’t it?” She mutters in Lena’s ear as she hugs her, smiling as Kara bursts into laughter and Lena glares. 

“Don’t pretend you weren’t instrumental in the design for my shoe tower in our new house.” 

They make their way into the living room, Ruby bouncing up from the couch to tackle her favorite aunts with exuberant hugs. 

Ruby gets picked up by friends for a sleepover as the rest of them all settle down with appetizers and wine. Alex stores the whiskey bottle that Lena brought, after admonishing she that she’s “fucking family dude, you don’t always need to bring something, oh wait is that black label, never mind keep it up Luthor.” They will probably break it out after dinner but for now they all enjoy a nice merlot that will go well with their steaks, cauliflower for Lena. 

They are soon caught up in a favorite game of tease Kara, which the blonde takes good naturedly having been the target of their jousting many times. 

“Remember when you were going through the musical phase? Every single word out of her mouth was a lyric from whatever she had watched that day, accompanied by her dance moves that no one needed to see and mom totally didn’t appreciate considering they usually led to broken furniture!” 

“She sings sometimes in her sleep. Usually La Vie Bohème but ever since Greatest Showman it’s been Rewrite the Stars.” Lena kisses her on the forehead as Kara continues to stuff bruschetta in her mouth. 

“Weren’t you telling me about when she used to dress up like Danny?” Sam asks turning to Alex with a smile. 

“Oh fuck I almost forgot about that! The amount of hair gel alone! I thought our room would never stop smelling like citre shine!” 

They all laugh, heads thrown back and ignoring the groan that comes from a bright red Kara. 

“He was cool okay! Don’t pretend you didn’t chop off all your hair when Eliza was at work one day so you could look like that chick from that weird movie.” 

“Kara Zor-El we do not speak about that. And for the record Fifth Element was a masterpiece of cinematic history.” 

“LENA DID THE SAME THING AT BOARDING SCHOOL!” Sam shouts. Lena is regretting every life choice that leads her to this moment, especially befriending one Samantha Arias. 

“I bet it looked hot,” Kara whispers, loudly enough for the other two women to hear and lead to Sam screeching with laughter. 

“You said I looked a fool Kara!” Alex fires at her sister, prominent frown making an appearance on her previously jovial face. 

“You’re not Lena,” returns Kara around the tongue sticking out of her mouth. 

“Alright, enough with the reminiscing of baby gay moments. Let's eat,” Sam says as she pulls the older Danvers away from the cushion she looked to be debating throwing at her sister. 

Their dinner turns into after dinner drinks as they watch a movie together, Kara being loudly outvoted when she suggests another musical. By the time Lena and Kara leave it was late and everyone was trying to hide yawns and drooping eyes. 

Tomorrow would be the first night in their new house, tonight they would celebrate their final night in the first home they had created together. 

After changing into pajamas, the last pair that Kara had left out of packing earlier, they make their way to the couch and sit together, fingers interlaced and as close as they can get one cushion. 

“Do you remember the first time we saw this place?” Lena asks, dreamy look in her eye as she transports them back to years past. 

“The tacky carpet and the horrible artwork crammed on every wall? How could I forget?” Kara’s laugh brings a smile to Lena’s face as she lays her head in Kara’s lap.  
When Kara starts carding her fingers through her hair she melts further into her thigh. 

“I felt those eyes from the one with all the cats watching me for days after Lena.” 

She chuckles at Kara’s irrational fear considering she is the perfect combination of puppy and cat, loving to curl up in a patch of sunlight and just lay there for hours. 

“We knew though, even with all the chaos surrounding…” 

“It was home,” Kara finishes. 

“This was where we learned how to be a couple.” 

“It’s where we learned how to be ourselves, and what that meant to be together.” 

“I knew I loved you before we moved in here, but it wasn’t until I got to wake up with you every morning that I knew what it actually meant to love you.” Lena will deny the moisture pooling in her eyes, she would have never let such a betrayal happen before meeting Kara. She mentally corrects, a sunshine and bubbly voice in her mind telling her that betrayal isn’t right. She opens her eyes just to take in the woman above her, her heart in her eyes as she watches her get lost in her head. Her kissy face when Lena meets her eyes. She kisses her when Kara lowers her head, exploring kisses with no intent more than to just connect. 

“Was it worth it?” 

Lena shoots up, almost bashing their heads together but for Kara’s quick reflexes. 

“How can you ask me that?” She doesn’t try to hide the shock in her face nor her tone. 

“No Lena, not like that. I just meant the way it happened? We’ve been through so many hard times, even before we were together.” 

“Every moment was worth it Kara.” 

“Even…” 

“Every. Moment.” She emphasizes each syllable with a kiss. 

“For me too.” 

“I’m glad to hear that Darling, because you’re stuck with me.” She smiles and tastes Kara’s beam on her lips. 

“I was stuck with you from the moment I entered your office with Kal. You were never the consolation Lena, you are the prize.” 

They spend their last night in the apartment like they spent their first, tender touches and lingering glances. Laughing and holding each other close. When Lena falls asleep she knows things are about to change, but she doesn’t fear it like she once would. She’s ready to start the next chapter of her life, to make new memories.  
__________________________________________  
A week later Lena sat at her desk not paying attention to all the things that were actually very urgent and should have her attention. She was instead twirling her pen and trying to achieve the perfect effortlessness that Kara managed when she did such an activity. Her stupidly alien girlfriend could multitask to such a degree that Lena, champion in her own mind, was put to shame. 

Last night she watched Kara tend to dinner (which got ruined but that was pretty normal whenever Kara tried to cook), finish an article for her irritable boss who secretly loved her, dance like a wild child on too many pixie sticks, and twirl that damn pen around her fingers to expel the extra energy the first three tasks didn’t occupy. She didn’t even realize how mesmerizing the pattern of twisting and flashes was to the Luthor for whom such coordination would be a miracle. But being a Luthor meant she was stubborn. It also meant that the half an hour she had spent trying to mimic the feat of finger agility had nothing to do with her pretend jealousy at Kara. It had everything to do with the box that was sitting off to the side of her desk, partially hidden behind her laptop but peeking around the corner. 

The box, THE box, had moved not just to their new home but continually with Lena since she had finished putting everything else away. It started in her office at home. Then it migrated with her to their bedroom, Kara’s ever observant eyes tracking the tag along without ever saying anything. From there she had taken to carrying it with her from room to room until she finally shoved it into her bag and brought it to L-Corp with her. 

She knew that she was avoiding looking inside the box. She also knew that she would crack and open the lid scrawled with her childish handwriting, all loops and swirls of a time untainted by growing up. Little Lena had even attempted to draw what was either a giraffe or a moose at the end of her name, something adult Lena could not figure out no matter how many times she analyzed the amorphous blob. She doesn’t remember being particularly attached to either animal at any point during her childhood and had obviously not looked at them enough to draw a half recognizable rendition. 

Lena K. Luthor was written in red ink, stained from many years until it more resembled the rust of dented cars left to the elements. Below her name and the blob was a date. She had done the math when she first examined the outside of the box, she had been 6 years old when she had started creating the box. 20 years separate the child that put her hopes, dreams, and wishes into an empty shoe box for safe keeping and the adult who was too scared to open it. 

It was that thought that finally propelled her forward. She was many things but scared was not one she entertained. 

Inside is a pell mell assortment of insignificant things to anyone else who would glance at them, but as she picked each up she was hit with the memories of these objects and was reminded just how much they had mattered to her younger self. 

Six items, six pieces of her life so soaked in memories she is pulled back to times long ago. A feather, a ticket with a star and her name, a broken picture frame, a medal, a worn piece of felt, and an old cd. She runs the tips of her fingers over the feather before giving into to the tide of memories. 

_She had been five when the bird flew into her window. A small swallow that had bounced off the glass and onto the floor of her room. She had rushed over to the creature after getting over the fright of the loud noise that surprised her. She had been reading on her bed, an activity she found didn’t cause anyone in her new home to be angry at her like playing outside had. She was scared to touch it, she didn’t know if birds bit people but the beak had looked so sharp. She crouched down on the ground, getting as close as she dared and stared at it until she saw the small breaths straining to be pulled into its shuddering body. She knew what death was at that time in her life, but more the idea. That sometimes people stopped being around because they died. She didn’t know why they did that and wanted her mother to come back from wherever she had gone. It’s what she wished for on every shooting star she saw that her new brother told her were magical._

__

_She had run to the library on the other side of the house she got lost in many times when she first moved here.!She had to stand on many books that she pulled from the lower shelves to get to the one she wanted. She didn’t know what ornithology was but she saw the small depiction of a bird on the spine of the book and figured it would be a good place to start._

__

_When she got back to her room the bird had not moved except to keep breathing, a fact that had her releasing her own deep breath. She spent all night laying next to the bird reading about kingdom and phylum. About where they lived and how big they grew. About what they ate and how long they lived._

__

_She used a washrag from her bathroom soaked in water to give tiny drops of water to the bird. She made herself stay awake as long as she could so she could keep watching it to make sure it was okay._

__

_Lena had nursed the bird back to health, a feat for such a small child who really didn’t know what she was doing. It bonded with her and would hop around after her until its wing healed and it flew around her room. She had loved her bird, who she named Dininae but called Nina for short. She had told her all the secrets that she hadn’t anyone else. She had fallen asleep to the sound of gliding wings and shuffling feathers._

__

_Lillian found the bird after a month and had someone in the house staff put it outside._

__

__

_“They carry diseases Lena! Were you trying to make us all sick?”_

__

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_She didn’t know how to tell her she had been hiding Nina for a month and hadn’t gotten sick, even at that age she knew not to talk back to her new mother. She apologized and waited to be allowed to go back to her room. She cried herself to sleep many nights after, stroking the feather that Nina had shed. ___

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Lena wipes a tear from her eye before it can fall as she remembers the first friend she made in the Luthor house. She never was allowed a pet while she had lived there, and continued the practice into her adult life. She had forgotten about Nina but as she stroked the feather once again she saw the beautiful glossiness of the blues and browns that decorated her little body. She remembers how terrified she had been when she woke the first morning, expecting Nina to have disappeared in the middle of the night. The joy upon finding her just where she left her. 

The rest of the items have similar stories of pain and reprimand. Of loneliness and sorrow that were her companions as a child. The ticket an invitation to an awards ceremony that she was being honored at when she was 8, to be given to her family so they could come celebrate her. The medal one she received for getting top marks at the science fair where she had been competing against kids half a decade older than her. The piece of felt singed around the corners and almost translucent from her rubbing it for comfort had come from the teddy bear she arrived at the Luthor mansion with. The same teddy bear had been thrown into the fire by Lillian one evening after Lena had embarrassed her at a dinner party. She couldn’t remember the slight but she remembers the pain of watching her bear be licked by the flames until Lillian had walked away and she reached her little hand in to try to save him. The scar on the tips of the fingers of her right hand testament to how hot the melted polyester had burned. 

The picture frame was a spider web of broken glass shards from when she had thrown it across the room at 10 after Lex had told her he was maturing too fast to hang out with her anymore. It was of the two of them smiling the week after she had been brought to this home by Lionel. The smiles were forced but that day Lex had shown her around the manor grounds, picking flowers and making chains with her, being kind when she cried and asked about her mother, sneaking her a brownie the cook made special for him. It was the first day that Lena had felt less scared. The first time since her mother died when she had been truly happy. 

As she slides the cd into the port of her laptop she wonders why she is torturing herself like this. It’s not as if revisiting these memories will make them any less painful but, like Pandora, once she opened the box she had to let everything out. The soft melodies and the harshly warm language surround her. She remembers the lyrics like it was yesterday. 

_She had been 16 and walking through the mall with her girlfriend Veronica who was trying to beat her previous record of 17 items stolen from 11 different stores. She had grown bored of the minor rebellions long ago but Veronica didn’t ask her questions and she didn’t expect much from Lena so she continued their non-relationship. It worked for now._

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_They passed by a bookstore that Lena had wanted to go into but knew Ronnie would call her a nerd for and she didn’t have the energy to either ignore the barbs or defend herself. When Ronnie stopped and leaned against a stairway, “casually” eyeing the congestion of shoppers and the lazy rent a cop who barely even looked up from his game of tetris Lena heard it._

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_She walked into Veronica who shot her a death glare for disturbing her practiced stance and rolled her eyes when Lena continued to stand there opened mouthed, head whipping back and forth on a swivel, trying to figure out where the soft music was coming from._

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_She ran toward the small music store across the courtyard and skidded to a stop at the threshold. The lullaby that had just been playing had transitioned into some kind of chant that made Lena think of praying._

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_She made her way to the front of the store, where a boy barely older than her was sitting on a stool, feet propped up on the counter, and reading an anime with a busty woman on the front cover._

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_“What was just playing?” She asked. She knew she was being too loud, too abrasive, too desperate but she needed to know._

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_“Huh?” he didn’t even look up from what he was reading and instead turned the page as Lena danced from one foot to the other._

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_“The song. The song before this one. Please!”_

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_He looked at her, eyes traveling from her face down her body in a way that made her want to run as fast as she could away but she stayed and waited._

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_When he finally met her eyes again his pimpled face had broken into a sneer._

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_“I have no idea, it’s on a loop of the same CD that always plays. Some alternative music to culture the place up or some bullshit.” He rolled his eyes, looking at her to see if she was impressed with his too cool demeanor._

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_She resisted all the insults that were on the tip of her tongue that would send him retreating, tail between his legs, and asked for a copy of the CD. He huffed his annoyance as he slammed his feet down onto the ground and shuffled toward the back of the store. When he handed her the CD she didn’t even bother to thank him as she turned it over and read through the titles of songs._

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_She spent the next half an hour searching the store for a CD with more Irish lullabies like the one that had brought her in. She purchased five different disks that day but only one of them had the song that made her think about the dark hair, the soft hands, the just out of reach voice of her mother who sang to her when she was small and frightened. Lena had listened to the CD so many times over the next year that she had to buy new copies, having worn out the previous ones._

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The one she has just put into her computer had never been opened, the security tape having to be sliced through with her letter opener before she gently pushes it in and is surrounded once again by the soothing melodies and poetic lyrics. She mouths along with them, remembering the words as they happen upon her and lets herself cry. 

That’s how Kara finds her three cycles of the CD later when she stops by to bring Lena lunch.

“Oh Lena,” Kara crosses the room in a moment and pulls her into her arms. They fit together perfectly as Lena’s head rests in the crook of Kara’s neck. She listens to the soft murmurings of the mix between Kryptonian and English. Lena doesn’t understand most of the words, but the net of safety that Kara creates with her at the center helps hold Lena together. 

It’s a long time before Lena pulls back enough to be helped to the couch. Kara sits first and lets Lena cuddle into her. The music from her CD is still playing and upon the second cycle Kara starts singing along softly. 

“It was the box. I opened it.” 

Kara hums to let her know she is listening. 

“It’s not like I thought I could erase the past by not opening it. I know I can exist in a state of denial but even I have my limits. But opening it wasn’t like when something triggers an errant memory and then I can move on. It was immersing myself back into being the little girl who held onto these useless things.” 

“Why are they useless?” 

“Sentimentality is not something I can afford Kara. It does no one good, least of all me.” 

Kara wiggles around until she is able to turn Lena’s head to her. Lena tries to resist but she doesn’t really want to. 

“To have feelings is to be human my love. The past was the poultry. It doesn’t make you weak to remember what happened to you, to be sad, to mourn. You are a beautiful, brilliant, and kind hearted soul Lena Luthor. I am inspired by you every single day.” 

She looks into the blue of Kara’s eyes, the deep oceans of blue that change depending on her mood. They can be as light as the sky on a cloudless day, shining bright enough to pull Lena in until she gets lost. They can also be swirling tsunamis, taking apart the waves and crashing hard against any land in their paths. But they are always Kara. They are always the part of the person she loves more than she has ever loved before. They don’t judge her or make her feel insignificant. Even when they have argued, fought so hard they had to take breaks in their respective corners Kara’s eyes still held affection, Lena’s compass pointing north. 

Kara watches her try to wrap her mind around how she sees her, at battle with how she has always viewed herself. Lena knows that she has made a lot of progress but at the end of the hardest days it was always difficult to remember that she didn’t need to be the person who hid behind such reinforced walls. She could be herself, and not only was that good enough, it was perfect. She was perfect just because she was her. 

“Thank you.” 

“Always. We aren’t just there for the good times. Being together means finding each other at the lowest points and still recognizing each other until the other can as well.” 

Lena kisses her. She holds her lips against the softness of Kara’s mouth and lets her pull her closer. She turns so she is sitting completely facing Kara, her legs coming to rest around the strong hips of her girlfriend. Kara’s hand presses against her lower back, holding her in place as she holds her close. 

When Lena pulls back she still has ghosts in her eyes and mind, but they are no longer the poltergeists screaming in the night to be heard. They are another part of her that she knows will never fully go away, but she doesn’t want them to. To forget where she came from is not the goal, the goal to embrace the past pieces and move forward with them. Another nugget of wisdom she has Kara to thank for. 

She presses her forehead against Kara, whose eyes are still closed and the smile softly playing across her lips. She kisses her once more before moving off of her lap, laughing a little at the noise of displeasure that comes from her girlfriend. 

“Did you want to eat here or take it home? Either way I’m sure the food has long gone cold.” 

Kara stands, grace personified as she rises in one fluid motion, and looks toward the bags she had placed on the ground when she came into the office to find Lena upset. 

“Let’s go home.” 

“I love when you say that.” 

“Home?” The crinkle comes to play across Kara’s face at her confusion. 

“It’s not just the word, though I love it when applied to our new house. It’s the way that you say it.” 

“How do I say it?” 

“Say lamp.” 

“Lamp,” Kara parrots, still looking confused. 

“Now kale.” 

Kara’s entire face scrunches in distaste as she utters the much hated name of food. 

“Now say home.” 

This time when she says the word Lena watches the understanding flash across her face, as if she can hear the way she cradles it in her mouth just as Lena can. 

“Home,” she says one more time while taking Lena’s hand and picking up the bags in the other. 

“Say my name.” 

“Lena.” This time the smile takes over her whole face as the almost prayer like way she says it washes over them both. 

“I like that one even better,” Lena jokes though they both know she is being as serious as she possibly can. 

“You are my home Lena.” 

“As you are mine.”

The box stays with her at the office, locked in her safe with prototypes not safe enough to let other people work on, contracts that aren’t finalized yet, and codes that would be dangerous in anyone else’s hands. Lena doesn’t try to stop herself when they come into her mind, wanderers always do tend to creep in on little cat feet, but she doesn’t let them affect her like they did the first time. She still listens to the CD sometimes, but it’s slowly being replaced by the sadness it evoked with happiness as she starts to recall small details of the woman who left her life too soon.  
___________________________________________  
It’s been a long month since she opened the box, filled with many late nights as she tries to kick the boards ass’ in gear about her new project, and Kara battles both aliens and the sludge of a story that isn’t coming together as timely as she would like. They have tried to carve out time for each other but most nights they barely are able to give each other quick run downs off their respective days before one of them is overcome with exhaustion. Lena knows that this is what it’s like dating a superhero, her own work too important to her and time consuming as well to judge Kara’s absences. But she misses her.

She vows that after tonight they will take time for them. Today is the last meeting of the board and Kara had told her this morning that she too would be submitting her story this evening and would be freed up as well. Now is the time to knuckle down and make it happen, though her focus is across the city with a bubbly blonde she imagines working hard at both her story and at not breaking her keyboard in frustration. The image of the crinkle on her brow is enough to propel Lena through the last of the details and when 2 o'clock rolls around she is ready to make this happen. 

The meeting ran long, as they are want to do when so many people are under the delusion that they have the acculmine to halt her plan. She remembers the beet red of one man’s face in particular as he realized there was nothing to do but agree and enters her office smiling. 

When her eyes adjust to the drawn blinds and flickering candles she sees Kara, halted in her mid pace across the floor and Lena’s smile grows. 

“I didn’t expect to see you until tonight Darling. How did your article turn out?” 

“I wasn’t working on an article.” 

Lena feels her brows lower in her own confusion and is about to ask what she had been doing when Kara holds up a finger. 

“I’m sorry I haven’t told you what I have been doing these past few weeks but I knew if I said it was a surprise you would be upset.” 

Lena feels her pulse pick up, the blood rushing fast from her heart as she takes in Kara’s apology. Not even that long ago these words would have sent her in a spiral of self doubt and terror at what was going to happen next. She feels her adrenaline spike and gives Kara a hesitant smile to let her know she is alright as she waits for her to continue. 

“I meant what I said when I told you how much you inspire me Lena. I wanted to show you because there aren’t words enough for how much I love you.” 

Lena watches as Kara crouches down and pulls the large box out from behind the couch, setting it back in its place effortlessly after picking it up to grab her hidden item. 

“Kara?” 

“Just wait a little longer my love, I promise this will tell you everything I can’t.” 

She comes toward Lena, eyes asking if she’s okay to which Lena nods. Kara enters her space and kisses her quickly before pulling her by the hand to their couch. They sit down and Kara turns to her, holding the box out as an offering, her eyes barely holding back everything she isn’t saying. 

Lena stares at her for a moment longer before turning toward the box. It’s much larger than the one she has sitting not but a few yards from them locked in her safe. She takes in the painted mural of the sun blazing across the ocean, recognizing the view from their last vacation in the south of France. Her hands are shaking as she moves to pull the lid back. 

When she does the first thing she sees is a large photo album, the cover is a sleek black with a window holding a picture. The picture is of the two of them facing each other, heads thrown back in laughter. She recognizes the night from years ago, a candid captured by James at a gala they had been trying to sneak out of. Above the picture is Kara’s scripted handwriting, gold standing out against the darkness of the cover. Home, it reads.

She looks at Kara who is watching her smiling. 

Keep going her eyes say. 

Lena opens the cover and is met with pictures detailing their story. Picture after picture of their life together. She recognizes a lot of them, Kara loved photographing everything from Lena sleeping, to cute dogs she met while out and about, to food she wanted to remember to eat again. Lena had gotten very used to selfies over her time together with Kara. But quite a few were candids of them, the affection they felt for each other blatantly obvious in each image. Moments, captured forever as a testimony to their journey. 

They were dancing at parties, feeding each other snacks during game nights, selfies of vacations they took together, the first time Kara took her flying (she does not look terrified), them pulling goofy faces, and times they had been caught laughing so hard Lena can see the tears about to fall. 

But the ones that she stopped and spared a few extra moments on were the ones that Karahad taken of her. Some of them were with her knowledge, her eyes connecting with the woman behind the camera and a particularly smitten look coming from her face. But most were everyday moments. Her sitting on the couch, book resting on her knees and glasses falling down her nose. Lying in bed, facing away from Kara, her back bare as the sheet had fallen down to just above the base of her spine. The thing that made them different was how she could see herself as Kara did. Kara’s eye showed through the lens of the photos and in it Lena was beautiful. 

When she gets a little more than halfway through the album the photos stopped and turned into notes, clasped down in each corner. They were from everyone in their lives. Alex wrote about her soft heart in a cruel world. Jess about her dedication and compassion at and away from work. Sam told the story of why she chose Lena to be Ruby’s godmother. There were letters from J’onn and Winn. Vasquez and James. Even her disaster of an ex Veronica had written to tell her not to screw this up. Past employees talked about how she was more than just a boss. People she went to school with about her intelligence and goodness. She’s a sobbing mess before getting through half of them but she pushes on. Seeing herself through so many other people’s perspectives and trying to apply their words to her own image. 

She is leaning completely into Kara, who is reading over her shoulder. Kara kisses the side of her head every so often, mouthing the words of particularly powerful passages in a barely there whisper that Lena has to strain to hear. 

The last page is blank, clasps ready and waiting. She raises her eyebrow and waits for Kara to explain. Instead she nudges Lena to look underneath the photo album, Lena just now realizing that there’s more in the box. 

There’s tickets from movies they had gone to on dates, loose polaroids that hadn’t fit into the photo album but were nowhere near the full collection, Sam and Alex’s wedding invitation the doilies and soft parchment making her laugh because it matched neither of them so of course they had chosen it, and so many press releases from Lena’s early days at L-Corp carefully cut out and kept many years after.

Kara motions for her to keep going as she continues to dig through the box. She reaches the bottom and her hand brushes against something hard. She pulls out a smaller box and when she opens it Kara has gotten up from the couch and kneeled in front of her. 

Lena lets the tears fall unashamedly down her face as she watches Kara take a deep breath before beginning. 

“Lena Luthor, I wanted to show you that not all boxes are full of painful memories. We both know how hard it is to build ourselves back up when we thought we wouldn’t be able to. We both know what it’s like to lose our worlds. But the strength I see that comes from inside your heart makes me fall in love with you just a little more everyday. Our pasts don’t define us, but they do lay the foundation for our futures and I want mine to be with yours. Will you do me the honor of choosing to spend your life with me as well?” 

Lena can’t remember words. She speaks 7 different languages fluently but at the moment she can’t remember any of them. She stares at Kara, still kneeling in front of her, heart in her eyes and pulse racing in her neck. 

“Lena?” It’s the insecurity in Kara’s voice that drives Lena from the couch onto the floor in front of Kara. She meets her eyes again, at the same level and nods her head. She nods it so hard her neck starts to protest the movement. 

 

“Yes?” 

“Of course it’s a yes! Yes Kara! Yes!” 

She’s swooped up in the strong arms of her girlfriend and twirled around and around. Her laugh hurts her own ears and her tears run down her face.

When Kara sets her down she has but a second before Kara attacks her face in exuberant kisses. She feels the wetness of Kara’s tears of joy mix with her own as she tries to kiss her back. Their lips finally connect in the coming together they have perfected over the years. 

“You’re going to be my wife,” Kara whispers, voice still choking with emotion. 

“We are going to be each other’s,” Lena returns. 

As Kara slips the ring on her finger Lena looks at the carvings etched on the band holding an unassuming square cut sapphire surrounded by small diamonds, “El Mayarah” on one side “Stronger Together” on the other.  
___________________________________________  
Five Years Later 

They get out of the taxi and slowly make their way up their cobblestone driveway, exhaustion leadening their limbs as Lena unlocks the door. Kara tosses their bags on the ground to scoop Lena up and carry her across the threshold. 

“You know you don’t need to do that every time we get home Darling,” Lena says around a laugh as she holds tight behind her wife’s neck. 

“Only the best for my wife Lena! Especially now!” 

She sets her down and goes back outside for their bags as Lena maneuvers the giant center of gravity that is her pregnant stomach to the couch in the living room. She would never admit it but ever since she started her third trimester she had gained a newfound appreciation for all of Kara’s many pillows. 

She shoves one behind her back and another two on the ground to rest her aching feet on. Kara rushes around putting things away and opening windows to their house that they hadn’t been in for the past month, having escaped the city to spend some time at their cabin in Northern California. 

While she waits for her wife to come back to her, hopefully with a snack and some sparkling water, she stretches forward the breath leaving her body as she bends even a little, and grabs the photo album from Kara’s proposal out from under the glass topper on their coffee table. Their collection has grown over the years, now one of many detailing their lives together but this is the one that started it all. She likes to go through it every so often, she blames the pregnancy hormones for making her even more sentimental than usual. 

She flips through the pictures again and smiles at all the moments. She doesn’t reread the letters, she is far too exhausted right now from the long drive to indulge in a crying fest, but she turns to the last page where Kara’s handwriting greets her. Kara had entered the letter after Lena had accepted her proposal that night. It was very similar to the speech she had given and Lena is always happy to have a physical copy of the words that changed her life. 

She reads them aloud one more time while stroking her stomach, adding commentary directed at the small being growing inside of her. 

“Your mother was so nervous little nugget, though I don’t know how she thought I would say anything besides yes. A kooky one she is. But in an endearing way, an impossibly endearing way that will have you forgetting how annoying some things should be. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me little one. She changed my life, has given me so much, has made us a family. And now we are going to have you soon and I hope you are just like her. My own little mini Kara.” 

“I want a mini Lena!” Kara calls from the kitchen, having heard the entire one sided dialogue. She brings in cut up fruit and sparkling water with ice chips just how Lena likes it. She takes the photo album out of Lena’s hands, face softening as she catches sight of the cover and smiles down at Lena. When she hands her the plate of food she kisses first her forehead, then her lips before moving down to talk to her stomach. 

“I hope you get all of your mom’s smarts, and her beauty, and most importantly her heart. Though feel free to leave a little bit of her stubbornness behind.” 

Kara dodges Lena’s swatting hand and catches it, twining their fingers together. She kisses Lena’s protruding stomach, right below her belly button that has popped out this late in pregnancy and then kisses Lena’s hand as she settles on the couch. 

“She’s going to be perfect love,” Kara reassures her. 

“Of course she is.” 

“And you are going to be a great mom.” 

This one Lena doesn’t agree to as readily. It had taken many conversations, and a few full blown fights born of fear and insecurity on both their parts before they decided to get pregnant. And even after the initial decision there had been many moments of mind numbing panic from Lena when she worried about hurting the child like she had been hurt. 

Kara had been there every step of the way. She had never forced her to do this, but she had talked to her whenever Lena let herself worry about being a bad mom. About not knowing how to love a child. About messing it up. Kara reminded her of just how much she loved the people in her life. She showed her how much she had changed from the masked woman who had been too afraid to even go on a date almost a decade ago to the strong and very human person she is today. She had left the decision up to Lena in the end, reassuring her many times that she would be perfectly happy if their family never became more than just the two of them. But Lena knew Kara wanted to be a mom, the way Kara was with children as Supergirl and Kara Danvers-Luthor was enough to explode her ovaries. 

Lena sat down one day after they had babysat Hugo, Alex and Sam’s rambunctious three year old ball of energy, and really thought about if she wanted to have children. She pushed past her fears. She pushed past the doubts and the voice in her mind telling her she would be terrible. She thought about Hugo and Ruby and Jess’s daughter, all of whom she had known and loved since they had come into the world. She thought about her job and her happiness. She thought about the comfort she felt with Kara after years of marriage. And then she saw the child in her mind, Kara’s eyes and her wavy dark hair. Kara’s clumsiness and her whip smart intelligence. She wanted that. She wanted to be a mom, even if it still scared her. 

It took many more talks between the two of them about how this was going to work. Not just the science of it but the way they both needed to adjust their lives to be the present parents they both wanted to be. Kara agreed to not hang up her cape but take a step back, realizing how putting herself in danger every day was not the way she wanted to live anymore but also acknowledging that she couldn’t stop that part of herself completely. Lena agreed to actually delegate responsibility at L-Corp, never wanting her child to think themself less important than her job. But she was also a realist and knew she would never be able to fully step away. They both talked about what kind of examples they wanted to set for their future child and agreed how important it was for them to see their moms be powerful women in both work and helping people. 

Once they decided it had taken about a year to figure out the combining of their genetics and how Lena would be able to safely carry a part Kryptonian baby. But now, at the tail end of their third trimester, Lena was just ready to give birth already and be able to walk more than five steps without her back hurting. 

“As long as I have you by my side I’m not worried.” 

“I will never be anywhere else Lena Danvers-Luthor.” 

“I guess you really are stuck with me now aren’t you?” 

“You’re still the prize Lena, and I am the luckiest woman to have gotten to share my life with you.” 

Lena kisses her, a little awkward with the baby between them, but just as perfect. When they rest their foreheads against each other Kara’s hand gravitates toward Lena’s stomach. She flashes Lena a smile that almost looks painful in its fullness when the baby kicks at her hand. 

Lena smiles back and lets her head fall onto Kara’s shoulder. She tucks her head into the crook of Kara’s next and takes a breath. Kara’s arm wraps around her and pulls her closer into her side. The baby settles down and twirls inside her, Lena feeling the stretch of already strong limbs almost ready to greet the world. She would have never imagined her life becoming anything like this, and can’t wait for whatever happens next. The past is the prologue and she knows she’s entering into the next chapter of their adventure, together.

**Author's Note:**

> Funnily enough when I had this idea it was a million times more angsty but when I sat down a lot of fluff happened.  
> Hope you enjoyed it :)  
> Thanks to spicycheese for trying to quell my impatience, and just being a writing yoda in general.  
> Find me on tumblr at Nataliawhite92.


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